An eerie silence spread across the Holy Seat as its inhabitants felt the urge to hide away. The older folk, however, didn’t find anything eerie about the atmosphere; instead, they found a strange nostalgia. Memories of the purge Samuel caused resurfaced, and those who remembered all those years back silently prayed to Sol, not knowing if they would escape the second round.

Michael stood in the armoury with the majority of the inquisition in the Holy Seat. They silently prepared their gear, not uttering a word. They knew what they had to do, what they were ordered to do. It didn’t matter how they felt anymore; they took an oath to Sol, to follow the orders of the Pope, unquestioningly, without wavering.

They all knew that something like this was a possibility; the history of the Holy Seat was stained with blood. Michael looked out at the grim faces. He took to the head of the room, flanked by his most trusted Templars.

"Everybody." He called out in a toneless voice. "We have our orders, and you have the names. Do not hesitate. The church is full of sin, and it is our divine duty to be the ones to purge it. Sol will forgive when it is over." It was short but enough as the men followed his lead, putting their helmets on. Walking down the long hall of the barrels, the templar all followed behind, breaking off once outside to spread across the grand palace.

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Constance sat in his office alone. The clock by his right ticked endlessly as he closed his eyes, unable to hear anything else. Even now, he hesitated. All he could do was hide in his room and wait for the events to unfold, knowing that if he stepped out, he would end the purge before it even began.

His leg bounced, wondering if someone would burst through the door trying to kill him. It wasn’t irrational to think of it as his grip around a small dagger tightened in his lap.

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The sound of soldiers echoed throughout the halls of the Holy Seat. It didn’t last for long, quickly echoed by the panicked cries of the clergy, soon followed, overshadowing anything. Many tried to fight back throughout the night but failed miserably. Many waited inside their rooms, thinking of the hundreds of ways they could escape, wondering when it would be their time.

From midnight until the early hours of the day, it had become the tune of the night, until only silence filled the halls. Constance finally opened his eyes. His eyes glanced at the clock, and with a new conviction, he stood up and walked to the meeting room.

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"Now entering his Holiness Constance." An attendant called out, and those who remained looked to the side door. Seeing the man, they all had to follow. His emerald eyes seemed to have lost their light. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Yet despite what they knew he ordered, his appearance was still holy. His platinum hair radiated in the golden light of the room. Taking his seat, he scanned the room. Opening and closing his mouth, he wished to say something, but stopped himself. There was no point in bringing up the events of the night. He had ordered it, everyone knew. Any apologies or words of sorrow would be an insult to those who had died.

"Everybody." His voice was still angelic as he called out to the seated men. "The situation with the Blessed One has spiralled out of control. The actions of a few men have jeopardised everything we have worked towards. The fragile peace we strive to maintain is over, and the time for inaction has long passed."

Taking a deep breath, he could see a few fearful nods from the people around, whilst others still kept the cold eyes from the previous discussions about Alfred. They didn’t care about the purge, only the situation ahead. Constance didn’t know whether to be relieved or worried. For them to be so calm about it.

"In my name, I ask the fine men before me to take a vote. A vote to strip the Emperor, Alfred Lindonfall, of his status as Blessed One. He has proven himself to be a traitor to the faith on numerous occasions. Marrying a heathen, bloodthirsty, arrogant, greedy. He has a blatant disregard for the principles Sol teaches us, and in due time, he will become a scourge on the world. One who will plunge us back into the Years of Darkness unless he is contained and eliminated."

"Fine men of the Church. Raise your hands if in favour. Help me, help Sol, finally end the one who has abused the order of the world." Constance looked around as a few arms shot up without hesitation.

Many others looked around before their eyes landed on Constance. His cold eyes stared deep into their souls, making them hesitantly raise their hands in agreement. Only two didn’t, but Constance didn’t acknowledge them. If they survived the purge, they weren’t against his plans going forward.

"In accordance with the Holy Law, order 57, with my power as Sol’s representative on Earth, and the support of the Church council, I hereby strip Alfred Lindonfall, Emperor of the Ammary People, of his role and title as Blessed One. Once more, the world shall be left without Sol’s champion, but do not fear, for the world has survived, the Church has survived without one."

The council members nodded in agreement with Constance’s words as they prepared for the next stage. Constance clenched his fist under the table as he prepared himself to say the next words. He could tell that in his long future, it would be the most pivotal moment.

"In my name, I ask the fine men before me to take a vote. A vote to call a Holy Crusade against Emperor Alfred Lindonfall, and free the Ammary people from the clutches of a man who toys with faith and lives as if they are his own playthings. In our long history, we have rarely called upon the need for a crusade. In our most recent history, our greatest moment, we rallied and restored the Holy Seat, bringing light to the world once more."

"We have launched a crusade to restore our place around the Holy Water. The Tears of our Lord’s beloved daughter Gaia. We had to call for a crusade to halt the plague of our world, Prodora, the birthplace of the Followers. A mission we were unsuccessful in."

"But most importantly, we were forced to call the Holy Crusade on the Blessed Ones. Drunk on power, they felt they had the power to wield Sol’s authority. So when I ask you to vote in favour of me to call upon a Holy Crusade, do not worry. Men greater than ourselves have done so before for similar reasons. And if they were wrong in it, then our entire Church is wrong."

Constance finished his piece as he looked around. Once more hands shot up without hesitation, this time many more. A few still lingered but eventually followed through. Not one remained out of the voting, everyone voting in favor.

Constance smiled, it never reaching his eyes as he stood up. The light seemed to fall perfectly on him, making everyone feel as if Sol had blessed the voting himself. Spreading his arms he looked out with pride. The deed he feared for so long was done. Now all he could do was follow it through perfectly.

"In accordance with Holy Law, Order 3, I label Alfred Lindonfall a heretic. He is banished from our Holy Institution and shall never see its light again. In accordance with Holy Law, Order 5, I call upon the Inquisition and all righteous men of the world to take up arms, to fight in the coming battle. With my authority and the backing of the council, I, Pope Constance, representative of Sol, call for a Holy Crusade on Alfred Lindonfall."

"May Sol forever shine upon us as we once again clear his beautiful daughter of the filth of the world." Taking a deep breath he looked to the ceiling. "Praise the Lord, praise his light, praise his mercy. For he will judge right and wrong."

The council fell into prayer simultaneously as Constance looked down at the council. He nodded in satisfaction seeing them and walked off. He couldn’t afford to be scared about the future anymore. He made the hard decision.

Heading to his office he sat down on the hard seat. Preparing a pen and paper he looked at the sheet and clicked his tongue. If it was up to him, he would never have spoken to the man again.

’Emporer Theodosius. The time has come where the Severian Empire must carry out its duty to the Holy Seat....’